The government started offering stakes in the two main football clubs, Esteghlal and Persepolis, on Sunday.
Subscription started in the morning and within two hours Esteghlal sold 167,403,903 shares to 179,185 buyers while Persepolis sold 162,229,136 shares to 201,254 people, Meysam Fadaei, the CEO of Iran Fara Bourse, said as reported by the state broadcaster IRIB.
Local media outlets reported on some disruption in IFB's trade platform, saying that many fans of the two teams were not able to buy shares. The claim, however, was rejected by Fadaei.
"The platform saw no problem during the subscription process," he said, adding that "The process will continue for 30 days.”
As per notices posted on the IFB website, both clubs are selling 10% of their stakes in the subscription phase and investors can buy 3 million rials in shares at the most.
Esteghlal’s stake will comprise 1.23 billion shares each priced at 2,910 rials. Persepolis is to offer 1.034 billion shares each worth 3,387 rials.
The subscription is expected to generate 3.6 trillion rials ($14 million) for Esteghlal and 3.5 trillion rials for Persepolis and the money will be used to increase the capital of the clubs through share premium.
Share premium is the difference in price between the par value, or face value of shares, and the total price a company receives for recently-issued shares. Share premium is the additional paid-in capital in excess of par value that an investor pays.
This is the first phase of the divesture, according to Iran Privatization Organization's head. The government is planning to divest 50% of its shares in the two clubs by September.
The newly-listed clubs are to be traded on the Base Market of the IFB, which is normally designed for listing companies lacking updated auditing and acceptable transparency norms.
Esteghlal (the Blues) had a private owner before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but was later put under the control of the then Physical Education Organization (now Sports Ministry). Persepolis (the Reds) had a similar fate.
More than a decade ago, when the Asian Football Confederation insisted on privatization of professional football clubs, state-owned clubs were no more accepted as AFC members and timelines were set for the transfer of proprietorship.
Following AFC’s ruling, several scenarios were considered for the two clubs, including selling shares in auctions. Efforts to privatize Esteghlal and Persepolis have failed and the baton has been passed on from one administration to another.
The IPO move comes after media reports on the possibility of banning the two clubs by the AFC Champions League 2022 for failing to meet the requirements for obtaining the entry license to the games.
